This invention relates to a novel paper towel dispenser. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a, single hand, paper towel dispenser that does not require a user to hold a roll of paper towel segments with one hand in order to facilely tear off a desired length of towel with the other hand.
Paper towels are routinely used in kitchens, restaurants and other settings where food is prepared and served. No matter where food is served, paper towel dispensers are often used to dispense disposable paper towel segments to clean up spills or to clean tables and kitchen appliances. In addition, paper towel dispensers are used in garages, auto or wood working shops and in other work areas where people need to absorb or wipe-up a spill, dry a surface or simply clean and/or dry their hands.
Paper towels usually are sold in a roll on a paper core approximately one inch in diameter and eleven inches or so in width. Paper towels are formed from one or two ply sheets of absorbent paper material fashioned into eleven-by-eleven or eleven-by-thirteen inch sheets connected together end-to-end along serrated tear lines. The paper towel segments are wound upon the paper core and are usually sixty feet, or so, in overall length. One brand of such product is known as BOUNTY which is a registered trademark of the Procter and Gamble Company. This brand comes in sheets that are approximately eleven-by-eleven inches square. Another brand is referred to known as BRAWNY which is a registered trademark of the Fort James Corporation and is sold in a roll of sheets eleven inches wide by thirteen point eight inches in length joined end-to-end along serration tear lines. Still further, other brands may include towel segments or lengths of seven inches or less.
The above and other brands are often dispensed by using a simple U-shaped bracket holder which is operable to be mounted upon a vertical wall surface or beneath a horizontal wood surface such as a cupboard by wood screws. Each end of the U-shaped bracket is designed to hold one end of the paper towel core or alternatively a rod can be axially extended through the center of the paper core and mounted at its ends on the bracket or frame. At least one disadvantage of traditional paper towel dispensers is that a person needs to use both hands to dispense the paper towels. This disadvantage represents an inconvenience and difficulty for people, which is all too common, when one hand is holding a container, object of use or is otherwise soiled or occupied. In such moments the only option, in most instances, is to find a place to set the container down so that both hands are free to tear off one or more sheets of paper towels. If a user attempts to use inertia and jerk a few sheets of towel from a roll, the roll usually unreels, to a greater or less degree, leaving the user then with the task of rewinding the unused length of towel segments.
It would therefore be highly desirable to provide a means for dispensing paper towels that only requires use of a single hand to facilely tear off any length of towel desired in a reliable and convenient manner.
Additionally, traditional paper towel dispensers are often poorly designed or cheaply produced which means that a roll of paper towels often falls off the dispenser when a person attempts to tear off a paper towel segment. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a paper towel dispenser that is rugged and reliable in design and function and will securely retain a roll of paper towels during a dispensing procedure.
In at least one further prior design, a roll of paper towels was operably received within a trough with a slit along one edge of the bottom of the trough. A free end of the roll of towels was trained through the slit and therefore operated as a dispensing unit. In this device there is nothing to brake rotation of the roll, except a users""s second hand, and therefore while this design will dispense towel segments it exhibits many of the limitations of prior designs.
A least one paper towel dispenser, known in the past, that is designed to be operated with one hand, includes a pair of nesting plastic yokes that are pivotally connected to a base plate. In this design, a paper towel roll is mounted on one of the yokes and trained over a top edge of the other yoke for tearing by a downward movement. In one embodiment this tearing operation is enhanced by use of tooth-shaped projections or knife-shaped blades fitted at an edge of the second yoke to assist in separating a desired length of towel from a roll. This design, although more convenient than most traditional roll dispensers, is composed of relatively lightweight plastic and a multipart mounting mechanism for the yokes. Accordingly the design lacks ruggedness and does not take advantage of gravity to assist in a dispensing process. Moreover the tear mechanism is simply an over a yoke arm design that is lacking in its braking capacity and thus user friendliness for a one handed operation.
Still further, since paper towels are usually located in user traffic areas it would be desirable to provide a paper towel dispenser that is operable to display a user photograph or item of decoration or personal interest.
The difficulties and limitations suggested in the preceding are not intended to be exhaustive, but rather are among many which demonstrate that paper towel dispensers appearing in the past will admit to worthwhile improvement.
It is a general object of the invention to provide a single hand, paper towel dispenser that will obviate or minimize problems and achieve desired advantages of the type previously described.
It is another object of the invention to provide a single hand, paper towel dispenser wherein the dispenser may be operably mounted on vertical wood or metal surfaces or beneath horizontal surfaces such as cabinets.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a paper towel dispenser wherein a desired length of paper towel may be facilely removed by one free hand without using a second hand that may be in use, soiled or otherwise occupied.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a single hand, paper towel dispenser wherein the dispenser continues to be highly effective in use, with only one hand, even as the size of the roll of paper towels decreases.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a single hand, paper towel dispenser wherein a user may operably display messages, or photographs or other items of a personal nature with the towel dispenser.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a single hand, paper towel dispenser wherein the paper towel core is securely retained and will not allow a paper towel to slip off of the dispenser when a towel segment is torn from the dispenser.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a single hand, paper towel dispenser where the towel core may be securely held against wobble, and undesired unreeling while permitting selective rotation to permit controlled single hand dispensing of towel sheets.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a single hand, paper towel dispenser wherein said a roll of paper towels are automatically and securely braced, with the assistance of gravity, to prevent rotation as a segment of towel is torn from the roll.
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide a single hand, paper towel dispenser wherein undesired unreeling of long lengths of towel is avoided even though a selective length of a towel segment is torn off with a single, one handed, stroke.
Still further, it is an object of the invention to provide a single hand paper towel dispensing system that during the sequence of tearing off a towel sheet with a single hand will concomitantly leave a short segment of one length of paper towel to grasp for a subsequent dispensing operation.
A preferred embodiment of the invention, which is intended to accomplish at least some of the foregoing objects, includes a single hand, paper towel dispenser comprising a base, a core holder operable to rotatably hold a roll of paper towel segments connected together end-to-end along perforated tear lines. A single hand, paper towel dispensing bale, having generally parallel bale rods, receives a length of paper towel in an xe2x80x9cS-shapedxe2x80x9d dispensing path and operably secures the towel roll against rotation and concomitantly provide a tear bar such that a segmented paper towel roll can be facilely dispensed with one hand.